It’s a virtue to send the same message to all

POLITICAL correctness became a dirty term, which was a little unfair. Often, it just amounted to being considerate of others. If golliwogs on the side of jam jars are unnecessarily offensive — and they are — find another logo. What’s wrong with that? It’s the same with virtue signalling. In many cases, it’s no different to being nice. Gary Lineker isn’t virtue signalling when he acknowledges the plight of refugees. There is nothing in it for him. It’s just the way he feels. What is the absolute embodiment of virtue signalling, however, is the rainbow laces campaign for LGBT rights and the way it is exploited by the biggest football clubs in this country. While Manchester United, Liverpool and Tottenham, for instance, are only too happy to share messages of equality and diversity back home, their social media accounts in locations such as the Middle East and parts of Asia feature no such endorsement. ‘One love,’ Manchester United tell their followers in English and Spanish, but not in Arabic, Malaysian or Indonesian. To make it worse, when a national newspaper contacted Kick It Out for their comment on this inconsistency, they chose to stay silent. So just to recap: ‘Kick It Out is English football’s equality and inclusion organisation. Working throughout the football, educational and community sectors to challenge discrimination, encourage inclusive practices and campaign for positive change, Kick It Out is at the heart of the fight against discrimination for everyone who plays, watches or works in football.’ Unless that means upsetting the big clubs, or entering the moral maze of geopolitics. No doubt they’ll have a nice line in banners and T-shirts, though. They’ve always got a lovely line in banners and T-shirts, the lot of them. Not to mention laces.